Beyond The Darkness
by Aerenii
Summary: Richard and Kathleen have to face some important decisions.   Sequel to 'Hyde Has A Heart'
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Takes place right after _Hyde Has A Heart. _(I told you they were running around my head with little plot nuggets. ^_^) Rated M for language, violence, sexual content...all the good stuff. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Although to be fair, Richard and Kathleen really wrote themselves again. (If only all of my characters were so helpful, haha) **

Chapter 1

She snored. It was really quite loud, but he couldn't help but smile anyway.

Richard leaned up on his elbow and gently ran his fingers just under Kathleen's jaw. It made her shiver and roll over on to her side, which put an end to the snoring. Her hair fell across her face. Richard brushed it back, tracing the shape of her ear, her cheek, her eyebrow...memorizing every aspect of her that he possibly could.

Her eyelids slowly fluttered open and a smile spread across her face. "I'm a hideous mess in the morning, I know," she said in a voice made husky with sleep.

"Mm, no." Richard replied quietly. He continued to trace the lines of her face with with fingers. "I think you're, mm. Quite amazing." She blushed and looked away for a moment before looking back at him. "Mm, did I leave you mm. Speechless?"

"It doesn't happen often," she admitted. "Anyone in my family will tell you that."

"Do you have, mm. A large family?"

"I'm the youngest of eleven. But only by eight minutes. My sister Jean and I are twins."

"Eleven?" Richard asked, eye wide.

She shrugged. "We're Catholic. What about you? Do you have a large family?"

Richard shook his head. "Parents are both. Mm. Dead. I have a sister, mm. But I haven't seen, mm. Her since I came back. Mm."

"Why not?"

"I don't feel the. Sense of ,mm. Connection that should be there. While I was, mm. At war, she was becoming. A wife and mother. Mm. She. Will ask questions that, mm. I don't want to answer. It's hard to relate, mm. To someone who wasn't there."

"Did you write to her while you were in Europe?"

"For a while. But I stopped, mm. After I. Got my first kill."

"Did you ever think that, maybe if you wrote to her, you...well, I mean...for me, I _**had**_ to write to Jean. It was the only way I could keep part of myself outside of everything I saw. I didn't tell her the horrors, no. Just little, ordinary things, like the weather. Or stupid things that happened to me." Her hand went to her forehead, she rubbed the small scar above her left eyebrow.

"How. Did you get that?" Richard asked. He'd been curious about it since he first spotted it.

"You'll laugh if I tell you," she said.

"I won't," Richard replied solemnly.

"Well, I had a few days leave, and went with a couple of other nurses to Paris. We went out to a bar one night, and apparently I made a...intimate suggestion...to a gentleman. I was actually asking for the time, but my French is horrible. Anyway, his wife didn't take to kindly to it, so she smashed a glass into my head."

"And, mm. What did you do?"

"Passed out, bled for a while...you're laughing!"

"I'm...not," Richard said. But he was. Kathleen grabbed a pillow and hit him in the shoulder with it. "Okay...I am." She tried to glare at him, but it was too hard to fight the smile. She hit him with the pillow again for good measure.

He ducked as best he could, which brought his face near hers. He leaned in and kissed her softly, trailing his fingers down the side of her neck, across the swell of her breast, teasing her nipple to tautness. She moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his body closer to hers. His fingers danced over her body, and after a moment, his mouth followed. Kathleen's soft moans soon became breathless gasps as he teased her most sensitive parts. It didn't take long for Richard to play her body to a back-arching, toe curling climax that left her dazed and panting. He kissed his way back up her body, making goose pimples rise on her skin. He slid into her easily, watching her eyes flutter in ecstasy. He became aware at that moment that he held...it was almost like a power over her. It was the absolute opposite of what he experienced when he was about to kill someone. There, it was a cold enveloping blackness, but here, with Kathleen, it was an encompassing light, filled with sparks of color and warmth.

Gasping, every nerve in her body tingling with delight, Kathleen studied Richard's face above her as he slowly moved in an out of her. She could tell from the look in his eye that he was thinking about something, although she would never be able to guess what.

"Roll over," she said, pushing against his shoulders. He looked at her with puzzlement, but complied, rolling off of her and laying on his back. Kathleen took her time exploring his body, touching and tasting, feeling his reactions in the quiver of his muscles. After a time, she straddled him, slowly moving atop of him. His hands moved to her hips, he matched her thrust for thrust, his breath growing ragged as every nerve in his body began to tingle. She leaned forward to kiss him, her hair falling around their faces, the first rays of morning sunshine played along the strands, mimicking the slow burning fire of their passion. Richard thrust into her deeply. She moaned and buried her face into his neck, small cries of ecstasy escaping each time he pressed into her.

"Oh god, Richard." It was a moan, a whisper, a cry. It was the most beautiful sentence he'd heard uttered and he continued to move in that particular way. He felt her muscles being to tremble and tighten, her fingers curling into his hair, her breath coming in great, ragged gasps.

The orgasm slammed into her, more intense than any she had ever experience. It was a shudder, a shiver, an explosion. It left her strangely numb, yet alive with feeling. One last small 'ooh' passed her lips before Richard felt his own climax erupt. He buried himself to the fullest. Her walls, still pulsing with her own pleasure, enveloped him completely.

He murmured her name. She moved enough so she could look down at him. Her hair hid them from the world again. She gently ran her fingers over the scars on the left side of his face, the first time she had truly drawn attention to them. She looked deep into his remaining eye, so many things she wanted to say, but without any words to say them.

"You. Make me forget. What I am."

"What you are, is the man that I love," she said with fierce passion. "I will never let you forget that."

Richard laid his hand over hers. "You'll. Mm, remind me often?"

"As often as I think you need it."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

While Kathleen would have loved nothing more than to stay in that nice big bed at Jimmy's father's house, she did have to go to work. Jimmy made arrangements for someone to drive her home; she and Richard stood at the front door to say good-bye.

"Mm, I would. Come with you, but we, mm. Have to talk about. The attack. Last night."

"I understand," she said. "Are you going to go after the people who did this?" Worry crept into her voice.

"Mm, maybe. We'll have to. Find out who they are, first. mm."

As the car Jimmy had arranged pulled up, the shared a kiss and whispered words of love. She stepped away, their fingers slowly trailing apart. It reminded him of a wonderful dream he once had, but this was magnificent because it was real.

Kathleen climbed in the back seat, and waved good-bye to Richard as the car drove away. She leaned back against the seat and let a smile spread across her face. He was so...she realized she was mentally speechless. What words could describe him? There were so many emotions evoked in her when she thought of him. She didn't really understand them, but she knew that it was truly love. She gave a small laugh. Her, in love...her sister Jean was going to pull a muscle laughing.

The car stopped in front of her building, and the driver told her he would wait and drive her to work when she was ready. She went upstairs and cleaned up, putting on her nurse's uniform and pinning up her hair. She grabbed a sweater and her hat, then went back downstairs. She was at the hospital in a matter of minutes, thanked the driver, and went inside.

"Anything unusual?" she asked her supervisor when she got to the desk.

"Actually, yes. A young man came in late last night, burns and a gunshot."

"Bad?" Kathleen asked, pinning her hat on.

"Not pretty," her supervisor admitted. "Some of the younger girls are having trouble looking at him. But then again, they haven't seen the things we have." She sighed and finished putting some paperwork away. Kathleen knew she had also spent time in Europe during the war. "You'll be sure to look in on him, Kathleen? I know you won't have any trouble."

"Of course," Kathleen said. She began making rounds, chatting with some patients, making others more comfortable, reading a letter for one. Eventually she found herself at the foot of the bed with the burn victim. Bandages swathed the top of his head, and his left eye and ear. His right eye, a warm honey brown color, attempted to focus on her. She could tell by his pupil that he was high on morphine.

"Oh, you poor thing!" Kathleen said in a soothing yet optimistic tone. "What happened to you?"

"That crazy sunna bitch blew up th' house," he slurred. "Hope he din get out..." His eye narrowed as he finally managed to get a good look at Kathleen. "Hey! I know you."

"Do you now?" Kathleen asked, placing her fingers on his wrist to check his pulse. She glanced at her wrist and then realized that she didn't have a watch. It had got broken the night she met Richard. Of course, she hadn't seen it in nearly a week. She could have sworn she had set it on the kitchen counter, but when she went to take it to get repaired, it wasn't there. She'd gone through her apartment thoroughly, but it hadn't shown up. So she glanced at the wall, thankful that this room had a clock in it. "And where do you know me from?"

"You're the dumb broad that almos' got run over. The guy that saved you. Richard...he liiiiiiiiiiiikesssssssssss yooouuuuuu." The young man dissolved into a fit of giggles. Kathleen figured he must have been stoned to high heaven to not be crying in pain.

"Oh?" she asked, something slowly dawning on her. "Did he tell you this?"

"He punched me in th' face when I said as much," he replied once the giggles ended. Kathleen checked his bandages, including the one on his thigh, where he had been shot. "Did you know he only has half a face? The other half isn't his. It's some French lady's. It's made from a pie tin." He rambled on about apple pies and apple trees and chopping down trees until he eventually drifted off to sleep. Kathleen pulled his bed sheet up a little higher and smoothed them, then she left the room. She went about the rest of her shift as if nothing was amiss, but inside she was a roiling mess. She was going to have to talk to Richard as soon as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shortly after eight, Kathleen put her sweater on and hurried out of the hospital. She wanted to get home to hope and pray Richard would call or come over. She let herself into her apartment, changed out of her work clothes, then sat at her kitchen table and waited, thinking very hard about Richard showing up at her door, as if that would make him appear faster.

It was just after ten when there was a knock on her door. She hurried to it, and when she saw Richard standing on the other side, she grabbed his arm and all but dragged her into the apartment.

"I knew, mm, absence makes the heart, mm, grow fonder," he began and Kathleen led him to the sofa and sat him down on it.

"Richard, the night we met," she cut him off, sitting beside him. "There was a young man with you. He's the one who complimented your shooting, called you Harrow." Richard thought back to that night and nodded after a moment. "Mm, that was. Bobby..."

Kathleen's nodded once, the name on the patient's chart was Robert Kohl. That was the last piece of confirmation she needed.

"I heard someone that night say that there was probably a snitch amongst you..."

"Mm, still. Haven't figured out. Who it might be, mm."

"I'm pretty sure it was Bobby," she stated. Richard's eyebrow crinkled in puzzlement. "There is a young man by the name of Robert Kohl laying in a bed at the hospital. He's got a gunshot would in his thigh, and burns covering half of his face, kind of like he'd been standing to close to a house that suddenly burst into flames. My mother raised ugly kids, not dumb ones. It doesn't take much to put together that fact with the fact that he knew I was the lady that almost got run over. He also said you punched him in the face when he said you liked me?"

"No." Richard explained. "I punched him. In the face, mm. When he called you. A dumb broad."

Kathleen found that strangely sweet.

"What. Room is he in?"

"Why?" Kathleen asked, her eyes narrowing.

"We have to. Talk to him. Mm, find out who. Else he was with, mm, the night at. Jimmy's house."

"And what if he doesn't want to tell you?" she asked, horrified at where this was going.

"There are. Ways, mm, to make him talk," Richard said flatly

"Over my dead body!" Kathleen said firmly, shooting to her feet. "You are not going into that hospital room to torture information out of that poor boy!"

"Kathleen. He tried, mm. To kill you."

"No, Richard, he tried to kill you and Jimmy. I just happened to be there at the time."

"You don't..."

"Don't tell me I don't understand, Richard Harrow!" Her blue eyed blazed in temper, and Richard was suddenly reminded of something a friend of his in the army once said..._'Never piss off a red-head,' he had stated, rubbing the crimson hand print that blazed on his cheek. 'They're easy to under-estimate, and it's always to your misfortune.' _ But Richard couldn't just let this be. Yes, the bullets had been for him, and Jimmy. But Kathleen had almost been killed, and that was an unforgivable crime, in his mind. He was about to try soothing her, and hopefully reasoning with her, when there was a knock on the door.

Kathleen spun on her heel and stomped to the door, about to tell Mrs. Dagner to go right back downstairs and tell Mr. Marietti to mind his own damn business. But when she opened the door, the words died and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Jean?"

"Surprise!" her twin said, throwing her arms around Kathleen. Kathleen hugged her sister back and gave a small squeal of joy.

"I know, it's late," Jean said as the women parted. "And I know Mother will pitch a fit if she knew that I just showed up at your door with no warning what so ever, but Carl has some business to tend to in New York. I was bored to tears, so I decided to hop on a train and come for a visit. Oh!" Jean spotted Richard over Kathleen's shoulder. "I didn't realize you already had company." She shot her twin a knowing glance.

"Richard, this is my sister, Mrs. Jean Schlensker. Jean, this is Mr. Richard Harrow..." She wasn't entirely sure how to describe Richard, but Jean knew, and was trying very hard to not laugh.

"A pleasure, mm. Mrs. Schlensker." That was a hard last name, Richard thought, aware that spittle was dribbling from the ruined side of his mouth.

"Jean, please," she insisted. "I love my husband, but hate our last name." She gave her sister a sidelong look that said 'You have a lot to tell me'

Richard took his leave, explaining that he felt the sisters would enjoy the opportunity to visit. Kathleen saw him out, and said in a quiet voice "Richard, I love you, but so help me God, if I find out that you, Jimmy or any of your other miscreant friends were near that hospital..." she trailed off and shook her head, not sure what threat she could make to drive her point home. Richard gave her a baleful look and turned to walk away.

"Do you work tomorrow, Kathleen?" Jean asked as Kathleen shut the door.

"Yes, from ten until eight. Why?"

"I'll be right back," Jean said, hurrying out the door after Richard.

"Mr. Harrow!" she called as she ran down the steps. "Richard." She smiled as he turned to face her. "My sister has to work tomorrow, so would you be so kind as to show me around the city? It would be a great opportunity for me to answer any questions you have about her."

"Yes, ma'am," Richard replied with a bob of his head.

"Wonderful! I'll be ready at ten," she said with a smile. "Oh, and I know it's none of my business, but I think you'd be best served by staying away from the hospital. I don't know why Kathleen warned you off, but when she can't finish a threat, it means she's serious."

"Yes, ma'am," he said again. He bid her good night and went away. Jean hurried back to Kathleen's apartment.

"You have a lot to catch me up on," Jean said. "Make some tea, and sit down and tell me all about him!"

"Tea? Not coffee?"

"I've been having trouble drinking coffee the past couple of months. Gives me horrible indigestion."

"Didn't mom have that problem whenever she got pregnant?" Kathleen asked as she put water on to boil. "Come to think of it, so did Anne and Francine."

"Edith did, too, at least until she was five months along. Apparently it runs in our family."

Kathleen almost dropped the tea pot in surprise. "You're pregnant! That's wonderful!" She ran over and hugged her twin, then stepped back and examined her.

"I'm not showing yet," Jean said. "Like I said, I'm only a couple months along."

"Still! This is exciting!"

"It probably won't be for much longer. But that's unimportant. So tell me about Mr. Harrow..."

Kathleen recounted how she met Richard, from the moment he came out of the darkness to push her out of the way of the car, to how he climbed up the drainpipe to visit her, to the night before when, during their romantic dance, they were nearly shot to death. She tried hard to explain the feeling in her stomach whenever she was with him, and the way that she wanted to melt into his arms whenever he said her name.

"But, God, Jean, I don't know what to do! I love him so much. But I don't know if I can be with him. He's obviously involved in some pretty heavy stuff, and just before you got here, he was talking about going to the hospital to torture information out of some poor kid who's laying in bed covered in burns! And the tone he used! It was like Mom when she would plan spring cleaning...something that just had to be done!" She took a sip from her tea, which had grown cold while she talked. She looked across the table at her twin.

"Well, first of all, I think it's hilarious that you've finally fallen in love," Jean replied over her cup.

"I knew you would," Kathleen replied.

"The reason I asked if you worked tomorrow is because I more or less bullied your boyfriend into showing me around the city tomorrow. I'll gladly explain to him that his murderous tendencies are quite at odds with your habit of saving lives." Kathleen gave a small groan at the thought of her sister having access to Richard with no supervision.

"Oh, don't give me that, Kathleen Susanne Gallagher. Turn about is fair play. You had Carl in tears after you were done making sure he was good enough for me..."

"And you've been happily married for almost six years now."

"Exactly! I will know by the time you get home from work tomorrow if this will work between the two of you, just like you knew Carl and I were right for each other. Do you trust me?"

"No further than I can throw you," Kathleen replied dryly, but with a smile.

"You wouldn't throw me," Jean replied, the same smile on her face. "You wouldn't risk hurting the baby."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Like I've said before, my characters tend to write themselves. Sometimes this leads to problems when they want to do something that will not get them to where I want them to be. But with this chapter, Richard just took over. So this is going to move a little faster than I had originally planned, because I'm not going to argue with Richard when he gets so eloquent on me. :')**

Chapter 4

Jean was standing outside of the building when Richard walked up right at ten. He looked at her with his head slightly cocked. When Kathleen had said they were twins, it didn't occur to him that they might be identical. But they were, same eyes, same hair, same smattering of freckles. True, Jean did not have the same scar above her eyebrow, but Richard figured that to someone who didn't know about that, it would be nigh on impossible to tell them apart.

"Good, mm morning, Mrs. Schlensker."

"I told you, call me Jean," she said as she stepped next to him. "We could well be family before long." There was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Assuming you pass muster, of course." She threaded her arm through his. She saw the look of alarm in his eye and laughed. "Don't worry," she said. "This is something everyone who is interested in one of us Gallagher kids goes through. I promise to go easy on you. Much easier than Kathleen went on my husband Carl, at any rate. Of course, you don't look like the kind of man who'll fall in to tears at the threat of castration."

"She. Threatened to, mm. Castrate him?"

"Oh, yes. Not that she actually would, mind you. Kathleen has too much reverence for life. That's why she became a nurse. She's a very compassionate woman, and she takes what she does very seriously." Jean looked at Richard out of the corner of her eye. "I'm going to ask you a question, and I want an honest answer. Do you love my sister?"

"Mm, more. Than I ever. Thought I could, mm, love anyone." He searched for the words. "I. Came back shattered, mm. I couldn't...go back to my life. From before. I lived in, mm, a veteran's hospital. Because I didn't think. There was a life for me. Outside. Mm. Nothing I learned. In the army was. Any good to me now. Mm, and nothing that I knew. From before was possible." He made a gesture at his mask, then continued. "When I met Jimmy, mm. There was a bond. We went through...a lot of the same things...Leave a normal life. Shoot at people. Get shot at. mm. Get hurt, come home to find. Life had moved on. Without us. Mm. He offered me a job. I. Was looking," Richard paused as the truth of what he was about to say finally kicked in. "Looking for a way to. Get killed without, doing it myself. It was like. I was as empty...as my left eye. Dark. Cold. Inhuman. Mm. When I met. Kathleen, that changed. Mm, I began. Looking for a way to live. She brought, mm. Light back to my world. She made me. Feel again."

"So you would give all of this up if she asked?" Jean asked quietly, deeply moved by what Richard had said.

"She doesn't have, mm, to ask," Richard replied. "Let me. Show you something."

As Richard led her along, Jean knew that this was the man her beloved twin sister was meant to spend the rest of her life with. They walked in silence, until Richard led her into a jewelry shop.

"Ah, Mr. Harrow!" the man behind the counter said as they came through the door. "Perfect timing. I just finished up with your order. Let me get it, for your approval. Oh!" he exclaimed when he registered Jean standing with Richard. "Is, ah, this the young lady...?"

"Mm, no," Richard said. "Her sister."

"Very well, sir. One moment please." The man hurried to the back room, then came out a moment later, two boxes in his hand. One was a long rectangle, the other a small square.

"The watch, sir. It was not as difficult to repair as you feared. I am not entirely sure," the jeweler said as he opened the longer box, "how the crystal was supposed to look, if it was flat, or slightly faceted,..."

"You got it right," Jean said, looking at the watch. "It looked just like this." She held out her left arm and showed the men an identical watch. "They were gifts from our mother," she explained. "Mine was a wedding gift, and Kathleen's was for when she graduated nursing school." She looked at Richard. "Kathleen thinks she's loosing her mind because she couldn't find the watch."

"I wanted to. Surprise her, mm."

"Same with the other box?" Jean asked, one eyebrow arched. Richard nodded, and motioned for the jeweler to open the smaller box. Jean gasped when she saw the delicate silver band set with a square cut diamond. "She'll be surprised," she said finally.

"Will she. Say yes?"

"Our mother raised ugly kids, not dumb ones," she said reassuringly. "She'll say yes."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kathleen made a point to visit Bobby's room just before noon. She knew he would be due for more morphine then, and she wanted to talk to him before he was given it.

"How are you feeling today?" she asked in her nurse tone, soft, comforting and gentle.

"Hurts," he gasped.

"I'm sure it does, dear." She looked over his chart, then took his pulse. "Can I ask you something? Were you the only one at the house before it caught fire?"

"No," he hissed through the pain. "Please, make the pain stop..."

"In a moment," she replied, feeling horrible for making him suffer, but knowing that Richard could and would do so much worse. "I just want to make sure there aren't any more young men laying somewhere, hurt, alone, in pain..."

"They...dropped me...at the hospital. Bastards. Drove off, after dumping me."

"Who are 'they'?" Kathleen asked as she prepared his morphine.

"Lucky, and...two guys I didn't know their names."

"They weren't hurt? You see, I'm sick at the thought that they might be injured somewhere."

"No...please..." he eyed the morphine in her hand.

"As long as you're sure they're not hurt. I just wanted to make sure." She gave him the injection, then talked soft nonsense to him as it kicked in and he drifted off to sleep. When his eyelid fluttered shut finally, Kathleen sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She had just violated an oath she held most dear, and she really could not justify it to herself that she did it to save the poor boy worse pain. _Of course, he and his friends did try to kill Richard, while I was in his arms. And this kid did betray Jimmy's gang. But damn it, I am a nurse...I'm here to ease his pain, help him heal..._

She uttered a phrase below her breath that would result in her mother hitting her upside the head should the Gallagher matron ever find out, took a deep breath, and tried to go about the rest of her shift as if everything was fine.

Richard and Jean took lunch at a small cafe. Well, Jean had lunch. Richard moved his food around his plate with his fork. Jean answered any questions that Richard had about Kathleen, like she told him he would. She also answered his questions about the rest of their family.

"Eleven kids?" he asked, still stunned. Jean laughed.

"Yes, eleven of us. No, it doesn't get confusing figuring out what order we come in...Mom and Dad named us alphabetically: Anne, Benjamin, Christopher, David, Edith, Francine, Gregory, Henry, Ingrid, me, and Kathleen."

"Yes, Kathleen is stubborn," Jean said in response to another question, "and she does have a temper, although it takes a lot to get her ire up. She's also fiercely protective of those that she loves."

"Oh, we all snore!" she laughed when Richard sheepishly broached that subject. "Wait until you meet Dad. You'd think the house was coming down."

"No, she didn't have any boyfriends when we were young. For a while, we thought she might be, you know...a lesbian. But, well...obviously not."

"She never wanted kids. At least, she didn't before she went to Europe. But now, given all she's seen, and now that you're in her life, maybe that's changed. Is having children important to you, Richard?"

"I would, mm, like to have a family. Sometimes. I dream about a house with a wife. And children. But , I dream, too. About an unscarred face. Mm, and being able to. Speak a sentence, mm. Without pauses. I don't remember. What my voice sounded like before." he looked down at his plate for a moment, then looked back at Jean. "I dream of Kathleen, now. Mm. If she will spend. The rest of her life with me. Mm, then that is all I ask."

Richard escorted Jean back to Kathleen's apartment building shortly after three. He stood on the steps below her, his hands in his pockets, somehow looking menacing yet innocent all at once.

"So," he asked, "do I. Pass?"

Jean smiled, and it was a smile so much like Kathleen's that Richard's heart thudded for a moment.

"You passed when you told me she gave you a reason to live," Jean replied. Richard smiled back.

"I knew. The moment I met her, mm. That I loved her. She is so, mm. Extraordinary. So passionate. So brave."

"She's the bravest one in the family," Jean admitted. "She's the only one of us girls who didn't get married young. She's the only one in the family who had the guts to do anything like get involved with the war. She's the only one who thought she could, and should, do more than become a housewife and mother." Unconsciously, Jean's hand went to her stomach. "That's a fine life for me, but Kathleen...well, we may look exactly alike, but we're two completely different people."

"Not completely," Richard said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it gently. "You're both very, mm. Caring women who want the best, mm. For their loved ones."

"Oh, you!" Jean said, playfully swatting his arm. It amazed her that this man, for whom words obviously weren't easy, was able to say the right thing at the right moment. "Thank you for spending the day with me, Richard," she said warmly. "I'm very glad I got the opportunity to know you."

"It. Was my pleasure,mm," he replied, bowing over her hand before releasing it. Jean watching him walk away, then went inside and up to Kathleen's apartment. She made some tea, read for a while, then took a short nap. By the time Kathleen got home from work, Jean had thrown together a pot of stew.

"That smells good," Kathleen said as she hung her sweater up. "How was your day with Richard?"

"Oh, Kathleen, he is the most charming, most tragic man I have ever met!" Jean cried. "I can see why you love him."

"So he passed?" Kathleen replied as she scooped up two bowls of stew.

"With honors," Jean replied. "Stay with him, Kathleen. Like you knew Carl was right for me, I know Richard is right for you."

Kathleen chewed on her lips for a moment then said "I did something today that I am not proud of. In fact, thinking of it makes me sick to my stomach. Remember that boy I told you about, the one Richard wanted to go torture?" Jean nodded and put her spoon down. "Well, today, I went into his room...the poor boy was miserable, and begging me to give him something to ease his pain. But I...I didn't, not until he told me who was with him the other night at the Darmodys..."

"Wait, who are the Darmodys again?"

"Jimmy and Angela...it was their house Richard and I were at, when we were dancing, and then getting shot at. But anyway, I withheld helpful medicine from this patient, just to get information. What if I'm becoming like Richard, and the others...unattached to the importance of life, and compassion?"

"The simple fact that you're worried about it, means you're not," Jean replied sagely. "And while what you did seems cruel, would you rather Richard went into that room and used his methods to get the same information you got?"

"Well, no..."

"So, you prolonged his pain momentarily and ended up saving him greater pain. And you have the information that Richard wanted. Now the question is, are you going to tell Richard?"

"I don't know," Kathleen replied, burying her face in her hands. "I know if I do, someone is likely going to get killed. And I couldn't bear it if it was Richard. But if I don't, then what I did was for nothing, and none of this will end."

"My suggestion is that you tell Richard what you know, but only after he promises you that he won't get involved in whatever plays out because of it. Kathleen, I think that man will do anything for you, all you have to do is ask him."

Kathleen looked up at her sister "What makes you say that?"

"Just...the way he talked about you today," Jean replied. "He loves you, and says he has from the moment he met you. He wants to make you happy, Kathleen. He told me that before he met you, he was trying to get himself killed. But now, you're a reason for him to live. You're helping him go beyond the darkness that's inside him."

Kathleen was reminded of what she had said to Richard the first night they made love (had that only been two nights ago?) about how nothing mattered but what was in his heart. He had replied that she was in his heart. And she knew he was in hers. She loved him, beyond a doubt. "Do you think, if I asked him, he would walk away from all of this?"

"He would," Jean said with certainty. She said no more, for fear of spilling the secret.

Kathleen took a bite of stew, lost in her thoughts. Jean smiled to herself and went back to eating. The sisters sat in silence for a while, only to be disturbed by a knock on the door. The twins looked up at each other.

"Did Richard say if he was coming by tonight?" Kathleen asked as she set her napkin on the table next to her bowl.

"No," Jean said. "He said something about letting us have some time together, and that he had something to tend to. But, maybe he's wanting to surprise you?" Jean wondered if this was the night he was going to propose. "If it is him, I'll duck out to a movie or something."

Kathleen walked to the door, smoothing her skirt and hair as she walked. A smile made it's way to her face, she was eagerly anticipating seeing Richard again.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm not sure where Eli came from...**

Chapter 6

They sat in the Commodore's study; Jimmy, Eli, the Commodore himself, Richard, and a few other men. The room was filled with smoke, tumblers of bourbon were scattered on tables. They were trying to figure out who to retaliate against, but they had no clues.

"I still think it's Nucky," Eli said. "Who else has anything to gain by getting rid of Jimmy?"

"Want me to make you a list?" Jimmy replied as he stabbed out a cigarette. "Besides, I don't think it's Nuck. He wouldn't risk Angela and Tommy, just to get to me."

"Well then, who do you think it might be?" The Commodore asked his son.

Jimmy chewed on his lip for a minute. "I have a theory, but I have no proof. And I'm not going to start an all-out war based on a theory."

"Share your theory, then," the Commodore said with scorn in his voice. "Show us what that fine education did for you."

Jimmy opened his mouth, about to deliver a scathing retort when Richard spoke up.

"Mm, Kathleen thinks. Bobby is a traitor."

"Who the fuck is Bobby?" the Commodore demanded.

"Who the fuck is Kathleen?" Eli asked.

"Bobby is a guy in the crew that we haven't seen in a few days. Kathleen is Richard's girlfriend. Shut the fuck up, Eli," Jimmy said when the sheriff opened his mouth, "or I will let Richard shoot you where you sit." Jimmy turned back to Richard. "Why does Kathleen think this? And why haven't you said anything earlier."

"Bobby is in, mm. The hospital. Burned and shot, mm. He recognized her...from the first night we met."

"Then let's go to the hospital," a man named Killian said. He'd been with the crew the night Kathleen almost got run over. He'd been on the beach when Richard (quite justifiably, he thought) punched Bobby in the mouth. "Have a little chat with Bobby, get him to open up. Or open him up, one of the two."

"No!" Richard said. "We can't, mm."

"What do you mean, we can't?" the Commodore said.

"Kathleen said..."

"Fuck what Kathleen said!" the Commodore roared. "I am not letting some damn cunt, or your infatuation with it, run my business. Eli, get your ass to that hospital and find out who that kid was working for."

Eli stood slowly, keeping a wary eye on Richard. Harrow made no move beyond looking at the Commodore, so Eli slowly started to back toward the door. Still, Richard sat immobile. No one else moved. Only the Commodore dared breath, a heavy sound indicating his temper. Richard gave Jimmy's father a cold, dead stare for a long moment, then he rose and followed Eli out of the room.

Jimmy was the first to stir, chasing after Richard as fast as his mangled leg would let him.

"Richard! Where are you going?"

"I. Quit!" Richard called over his shoulder. "I am not, mm. Dealing with this. Shit. Anymore. I, mm, am going. To Kathleen and if she'll... still have me, mm. I am going to. Take her and leave. This fucking city!"

"Richard, you can't leave!" Jimmy called and put on another burst of speed. Eli, who hadn't gotten far due to the fact that he keep looking over his shoulder, expecting Richard to shoot him, stopped and turned at the sound of Jimmy's raised voice.

"Why not?" Richard turned on Jimmy. "Why can't. I leave?"

Jimmy was taken aback. Never, in all the time he had known Harrow, had Richard ever raised his voice, or even questioned Jimmy. Jimmy said go, and Richard went. Jimmy said kill, and Richard did.

"Because we are this close" he held a finger and thumb in the air about an inch apart, "to all of this finally paying off! Because in a matter of months we'll be in charge of this town!"

"No. You'll be, mm. In charge of the. City. If, mm. You're. Still alive."

"You ungrateful bastard..." Jimmy stepped toe to toe with Richard, fists clenched at his sides.

"Let him go, Jimmy," Eli said, walking up to the younger men. "He's the only one who's got the sense God gave a rock. Let him go. Let him take this girl and get the fuck out of here. If we were smart, you and me would get our families and follow him out of town. We've got grand ideas here, Jimmy, but nothing is certain. We could all be dead tomorrow. Are you going to make him," Eli inclined his head towards Richard, "fall with us if we fail? Or are you going to let him go and make some girl happy?"

Jimmy looked at Richard for a long, long time, saying nothing, his piercing blue eyes hooded. Finally, Jimmy turned and limped away without a word. Richard and Eli watched him go.

"He'll get over it," Eli said. "I'll take you to your girl, and wait until you're on your way before I go to the hospital."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Richard took the stairs to Kathleen's apartment two at a time, and knocked urgently on her door. When the door opened, he was puzzled.

"Jean?" She looked like she had been crying.

"Oh God Richard! They took Kathleen!" she wailed as she fell into his arms crying. He wrapped his arms around her and said "Who...took her?"

"I...I don't know. They were two guys. Twins, no less. And one...one of them said that...they should take us both...one for each of them,...and that way they would be sure to get...to get the right one. But Kath...Kath..."

"Shh...shh. Mm, calm down, Jean. Deep breath. There...better?" Jean pulled away from Richard and took a deep breath before nodding. "Good. Mm, you were. Saying?"

"Right. Kathleen convinced them that they should leave me. That she was the one they were looking for. She told them something about almost getting hit on Atlantic Avenue, and how you saved her and still managed to shoot...I don't know! Whatever it was, they believed her and took her out of here. We have to get her back!"

"Mm, I know. But we don't know. Who they are. Or where they took her. The only, mm, lead we have..."

"Is that kid in the hospital," Jean finished for him. "I think...I might have an idea..."

Eli jumped a bit when Richard tapped on the window.

"We're going to, mm. The hospital," he told Eli as he and Jean climbed into the car.

"You're going with me?" Eli asked. "So you changed your mind?" He said to who he assumed was Kathleen.

"We'll fill you in as we drive, Sheriff. Now please move this car, and move it quickly."

Eli walked with Richard and Jean into the hospital, hoping this was going to work. Did passing the woman off as her sister, nurse's uniform and all, make more sense than just putting a gun to the kid's head and telling him that, if he didn't talk, a bullet would be in his brain? Not in Eli's mind, but Richard wanted to follow Kathleen's wishes and try not to hurt anyone.

So here they were. Jean had a small bag in her hand, and she was digging through it, looking for something.

"Nurses were expected to bring most of their own equipment when they went to the fields," Jean explained. "I bought this for Kathleen, right before she left. There should be...aha! Here it is!" She pulled out a hypodermic needle and held it up. Eli blanched, he'd never been fond of needles and seeing one this close wasn't making him like them more.

"Remember how I told you that Kathleen and I were totally different people?" Jean asked Richard as she handed him the bag. He nodded. "Well, you're about to see me do something Kathleen would never do. And I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't mention it to her. Ever."

She went into Bobby's room, Richard and Eli on her heels. The young man was laying with his eyes closed, but the visible one fluttered open as Jean approached.

"Back already?" he asked fuzzily. "Is it medicine time again?"

Jean leaned over him and put the tip of the needle against his eye.

"You're going to tell me who your friends are and where they have taken my sister, or so help me God, I'm going to push this needle into your eyeball. Do I make myself clear?"

Bobby told her.

Richard wished he had his Enfield on him right now. Find a nice, high vantage point, and carefully line up his shot before taking it. But he didn't so he would make do with what he had. He and Eli were looking in the window of a ramshackle house on the outskirts of the city. Kathleen was seated by a table, her hands tied to the armrests of a chair. She was gagged, and there was a large bruise visible on her cheek. There were two men in the room with her, the twins that Jean said came and took Kathleen away. They were talking quietly, but keeping an eye on her.

"What are we going to do?" Eli asked as they ducked below the windowsill when a third man walked into the room and sat down in front of Kathleen. Richard pulled his gun from it's holster and examined it for a moment, then ran his plan by Eli.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I was going to hold these for a little while, but I keep tweaking, so I'm going to post them before they completely diverge from the previous chapters. **

Chapter 8

Kathleen tried once more to free her wrists, but there was no give in the ropes. Her jaw was cramping from the awkward gag wedged between her teeth, and her cheek was throbbing where one of the twins (she knew they were named Peter and Paul, but she didn't know which was which) had backhanded her.

She hoped Jean was safe

She wondered if Richard was on the way.

She didn't want to think of that, though. Because in all likelihood, he wasn't. He didn't know what Kathleen had learned from Bobby, and she had never thought to tell Jean. Plus, she had no idea where she was, so it could well take a lot of searching on his part to happen upon her.

That thought made her resolve break, and a sob broke free. She tried to contain it, because she knew it would be nearly impossible to breathe with the gag in her mouth once her nose snotted up. But the last words she had spoken to Richard had been a threat. If she was going to die, and it was a very good possibility she would, she didn't want her last words to him to be words of anger. She wanted, just one last time if that's all there was left, to tell him that she loved him.

"Hey now, hey now." Kathleen looked up at the handsome young man who sauntered in through the door. "There's no need for that. Paul, get the lady a glass of water." He pulled a chair out and put it in front of Kathleen, then leaned in and gently undid the gag. "I'm not gonna hurt you, miss. I just need to ask you a few questions. By the way, my name is Charlie. Charlie Luciano. And you are?"

"Kath...Kathleen Gallagher," she said warily.

"It's a pleasure, Miss Gallagher. Smoke?" he offered. When she shook her head, he stuck it in his mouth and lit it. The man, Paul, came back with a glass of water, and Charlie held it up for her to drink.

"Now, Miss Gallagher, I just need you to tell me where I can find Jimmy Darmody and Richard Harrow. Once you tell me that, I'll untie you, and have my friends here take you home."

The twins leered at her. Kathleen turned her face away from them.

"I wish I could tell you, Mr. Luciano," she said, her voice trembling. "But I honestly have no idea where they are. I haven't seen either of them in a couple of days."

"Don't lie to me, Miss Gallagher." He might have been young, he might have been handsome, but there was an unmistakable deadliness in his demeanor. "I know you had lunch with Harrow today, at the High Tide Cafe. You had the pot roast."

"That was my sister. I was at work all day. By the way, your friend Bobby thinks you're a right bastard for just dumping him in front of the hospital."

"Hey, I coulda just left him in out side Darmody's house. At least he's got a fighting chance, now." Charlie took a long drag off his cigarette and looked at Kathleen from beneath long, thick eyelashes. "Now, like I said, don't lie to me. I saw you and Harrow together today."

"And I'm telling you that was my sister. We're twins."

"Twins? That's awfully convenient.."

"She's tellin' the truth, Lucky," one of the twins said. "They look just alike. We almost brought 'em both, but this one said she was the one we wanted, so we left the other."

Lucky looked at the twins, appalled by their stupidity. "You coulda brought them both, given me some more leverage, and you left one of them at home? Which one of you geniuses thought of that?"

"That was me," the one who'd brought Kathleen the water said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Dumb fuckin' idea," Lucky said. He pulled a gun out from under his jacket and shot the man in the chest. Kathleen screamed and shut her eyes as the man fell to the ground, dead. Lucky shot a glare at the other twin, who stared in horror at his fallen brother, then took the gun and placed it against Kathleen's temple.

"Now, I'm gonna ask you one last time, lady. Tell me where the fuck Darmody and Harrow are."

Richard was waiting for Eli to get into position when Luciano shot the thug and put the gun to Kathleen's head. Horror stricken, afraid that he couldn't wait any longer, Richard aimed down the barrel of his Colt 1903 and pulled the trigger.

Kathleen could feel the heat of the muzzle singeing her skin. She was going to die, she was able to accept this. For she could not tell Charlie Luciano what he wanted to know. And even if she could, she wouldn't. She closed her eyes for a long moment, and images of Richard crossed her mind...the first time he stood in her apartment, when she blurted out how she found nothing unappealing about him and his eye widened in surprise. Or the shy invitation to dinner. His hand as he asked her to dance. The first time they made love...

She slowly opened her eyes and met Luciano's resigned to her fate and deciding to met it with open eyes.

Glass shattered.

Peter slammed back against the wall, his right cheek and eye gone. Blood and gore covered the wall behind him, smearing as he slid down to the floor.

Kathleen screamed.

Lucky looked up at the window behind her and spotted Richard standing there, gun aimed at him. He lifted his own gun, intending to take Harrow out. But before he could, Eli came up behind him and pistol whipped him, knocking him unconscious.

Richard came in through the shattered window and rushed to Kathleen's side. He took the knife Eli offered and cut through her bonds, then pulled her into him arms and held her, never intending to let her go again.

"Oh Richard!" she sobbed into his neck. "I'm so sorry! I love you. I didn't think I was going to be able to tell you that ever again. I love you. I love you..."

"Shh," Richard said soothingly. He gently moved her head so he could gaze at her. Tears fell from her eyes, and he tenderly kissed them away. "I. Love you, too, mm. I was...afraid for you. Mm, I have. A question to ask." She nodded and sniffled. "Will you. Go with me?"

"I'd follow you to the ends of the earth, Richard."

"We, mm, don't have to. Go that far. Just so long, mm, as we leave. This God-forsaken city."


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue

_ September 30th, 1921_

_Dear Jean,_

_I hope this letter finds you, Carl and the children well. I'm sorry I haven't written sooner. I'll be honest, since we've gotten home (and what a home it is...more on that later) I've been so busy being the new Mrs. Richard Harrow that I'm neglecting many things._

_To catch you up on things..._

_After the wedding, we went to Niagra Falls for our honeymoon. Richard and I agree we will have to go back, and maybe next time we'll actually see the falls! We did not leave the hotel room, not even to eat! Room service is a delightful thing._

_After Niagra Falls, we went and visited Richard's sister. We spent two weeks there, and honestly could have spent two more. Richard and his sister reconnected, and although I know she had a bunch of questions she was burning to ask, she held her tongue. She admitted that she had been hurt that Richard didn't want to see her after he returned, but I think she understands now why he didn't want to. She told me one night that she didn't realize quite how severe his injuries were. I tried to explain to her that it went so much deeper than just his face, that he was changed emotionally and mentally, and I think she sees this having spent time with him. I told her he still needed some time, and he would never again be the brother she knew before the war. She said it didn't matter, that she loved him no matter what because he was her brother and always would be. She has three beautiful children, and watching Richard play with his nieces and nephew was so sweet. _

_While we were on the train between Niagra and Albany, where Richard's sister lives, we met a nice British couple. The gentleman had been in the Royal Flying Corps before it's merger with the Royal Naval Air Service, and suffered severe facial burns from a petrol explosion. He and Richard got to talking (which surprised the daylights out of me. I never thought I'd see Richard just start talking about what he went through. But I guess it's easier to talk with someone who's been through a lot of the same things) and eventually it came up that this gentleman was on his way to Lexington Kentucky, where he was about to take over as the dean of the history department at the University there. Richard mentioned that he had just finished his degree before he enlisted in the army. To make a long story short, the man offered Richard a job as a professor, and so here we are in Lexington..._

_Richard still hasn't heard from Jimmy Darmody. I don't think he ever will. Richard did receive a letter from Sheriff Elias Thompson. He said that he had taken the 'gentleman' (my word. The word the sheriff used is not proper for correspondence) to Jimmy and the Commodore, and 'an agreement' had been made. He didn't give any details, and I don't know what it means. But Richard's jaw clenched, so I don't think it was a good thing. Sheriff Thompson also wrote that Jimmy felt betrayed by Richard walking out. I wish I knew what happened. I asked Richard about it, but he said that it was the past, and he wanted only to think of the future._

_You'll have to come visit soon. Our house is beautiful, large rooms with high ceilings and huge windows. The kitchen is very modern, and it has two bathrooms! We have a large porch, Richard and I spend every morning on the porch, drinking coffee before we go to work. Well, we did at any rate, until coffee started giving me indigestion._

_Ah, there's Richard coming in the door now. I'm going to explain why I won't be drinking coffee for another 6 months or so, and then remind him that he is the man that I love._

_ With sisterly love,_

_ Kathleen _

**Author's post script: I'm going to leave Richard and Kathleen here, to enjoy wedded bliss, and soon a child or two. But something tells me the Boardwalk Empire they ran from isn't quite through with them just yet.**_  
><em>


End file.
